Ch.9696. Filth is Disinfection!

About a month after the Central Imperial Empire was attacked by the sudden appearance of a presumed first-class giant Winter Wolf…

“Hah-ha!”

“Disinfect the filth!”

“Kill the women and ravage the men!”

The nation known as the Central Imperial Empire had completely collapsed. What remained was a post-apocalyptic hell created by the hands of those who once constituted the empire but had now become mere warlords.

In truth, this outcome was inevitable.

The Winter Wolf’s migration path—from the northeastern border region of Liaodong all the way down to Beijing—left every city in its wake destroyed. Monsters from Siberia and Manchuria that entered through this route rapidly spread throughout the entire empire.

Beijing, the capital, was completely devastated by the first-class giant Winter Wolf, and the Emperor—the sole hope as the highest-ranked hunter—was ultimately killed by the beast, leaving the empire without its central pillar.

The border regions fared somewhat better, as generals (high-ranked hunters) from each military corps consolidated their forces with nearby cities. The Central Imperial Empire, which had been the strongest Chinese nation in terms of military power, still had a surprisingly large number of survivors.

These forces managed to kill the Winter Wolf using anti-psychic bombs and gradually began reclaiming territory… but this is where the real fracturing began.

These generals (high-ranked hunters) were all afflicted with “Emperor’s Disease”—China’s endemic condition where everyone burns with ambition to become Emperor. With the Emperor dead, there was no one to stop their ambitions.

Additionally, neighboring Chinese nations were eager to devour the collapsed empire’s territory, waiting for these generals to exhaust their strength through civil war.

As a result, with self-proclaimed emperors that no one could stop, the Central Imperial Empire splintered. The seven self-proclaimed Central Imperial Empires that emerged became a living hell.

They frequently seized and lost territories from one another, creating such chaos at the front lines that ownership of a single hill might change dozens of times in a day.

Even when the fragmented empires tried to form alliances, they inevitably broke down knowing they would eventually have to fight each other, preventing any faction from gaining clear dominance.

So while China was being so “Chinese”—

‘Another exciting day of modifications!!!’

[Waaaaaaaaah!!!]

I was preparing to modify the body of a self-proclaimed emperor from the Central Imperial Empire who had been delivered in a half-dead state, together with Seah who had returned before getting hit by an anti-psychic bomb.

※ ※ ※

[…Senior, you were always this kind of person, weren’t you.]

‘Yes, this is how I’ve always been.’

Since his soul was now subordinated to me and he could no longer betray me, I had discarded all pretense, but strangely, Seah accepted this side of me without much surprise.

Perhaps it’s because she had seen the 5th edition protagonist who reflected my actions and personality. After all, the 5th edition protagonist in the campaign story had a somewhat cheerful and eccentric personality.

Anyway, that’s enough about that. Now, with the intention of modifying this self-proclaimed emperor to my liking and using him for my purposes, I happily began the human modification process by analyzing him.

The self-proclaimed emperor was a black-haired man with the typical racial characteristics of someone from southern North China. His height had been increased to about 3 meters using various implants.

His appearance was that of a handsome man resembling a classic Chinese hero… but considering his entire face had been replaced with implants, it was obvious he had undergone cosmetic surgery to create a more appealing appearance.

In addition to these physical characteristics, the emperor’s skin had terminals embedded throughout that could connect to wires or electronic devices.

These were implants connected electronically to his nervous system, obviously designed to control his custom-made Giant Armor.

‘All this flashiness gives off nouveau riche vibes…’

[You’re right, Senior. Those shoulder pads too.]

His custom Giant Armor was Giant Armor in name only—it was actually closer to a 3.5-meter powered suit, a small-scale Giant Armor.

However, having been created with the Central Imperial Empire’s finest facilities, materials, and craftsmen, its quality was truly top-tier.

The armor plates were made by coating adamantium plates with mythril, then coating that with orichalcum, fitted onto a frame made from the bones of a first-class True Dragon species. On top of that, orichalcum scales embedded with psychic crystals were added.

The monster bio-components serving as internal circuits came from a first-class humanoid monster obtained during the suppression of a Hive Mind that had appeared in China, further reinforced with psychic crystals.

The shoulder armor was so massive that it covered almost the entire head except for the front, equipped with various special functions that allowed 360° awareness without having to turn one’s head.

‘…But isn’t that a bit excessive?’

The shoulder pads were indeed too bulky, so I’d need to make some adjustments regardless.

After confirming all these facts, Seah and I came to a common conclusion.

[Hey, Senior. If we put that psychic construct giant on him and use him as a vanguard, wouldn’t the Chinese people absolutely love it?]

‘While we’re at it, how about dyeing it black for a corrupted concept?’

[Oh, that’s good.]

Our conclusion was that rather than complicating things by completely rebuilding him, we should just finish the control modifications and then deploy him back to China as is.

Believe it or not, this self-proclaimed emperor was quite popular even in hostile nations within the Chinese cultural sphere.

He was a war hero who had repelled northern monsters numerous times, improved his image by publicly punishing corruption, and even created a Mecha-Guan Yu, essentially inserting himself into the divine aspect of Guan Yu.

In the Chinese cultural sphere, especially in former Communist China territories, Guan Yu was a deity widely loved among the common people—from soldiers and police to merchants and the sick—making his actions extremely effective.

So if we modified this emperor and made him the vanguard of the monster army, he would undoubtedly draw attention and reduce interference as I worked toward my goals.

‘Let’s begin. I’ll need your assistance.’

[Yes, Senior.]

I began modifying his body, starting with implanting a nano-spirit and metal implant into his spine.

This spinal implant, which had undergone significant advancements, now went beyond simply controlling actions remotely and increasing reaction speed—it could incorporate various special functions.

The most common use was accelerating cognitive abilities to the extreme, making one second feel like ten minutes for optimal decision-making. Other functions included using auxiliary arms as genuine third and fourth arms, or connecting to the internet, but…

‘It’s still a waste, isn’t it?’

[Yes, the psychic construct giant—]

‘Mecha-Guan Yu.’

[…Pardon?]

‘It’s Mecha-Guan Yu.’

[…Y-yes, M-Mecha-G-Guan Yu would be on par with a first-class monster if we could solve the psychic energy shortage issue.]

As Seah mentioned, it would be a waste to squander a rare giant-type hunter like Mecha-Guan Yu, so all the implant’s functions were designed to specialize in using Mecha-Guan Yu.

Specifically, they were designed to maximize computational power to minimize the delay between his movements and those of Mecha-Guan Yu.

Next, I replaced the self-proclaimed emperor’s cells with those of monsters, and while at it, replaced various implants in his body with biological components.

The gray muscles made of artificial muscle fibers were replaced with the vibrant muscles of an elite high-ranking simian monster—an Elite Jagatan. His bones were replaced with psychic-conductive skeletal material (the raw material for mythril), and his skin was coated with a thin layer of special new material specialized for psychic transmission.

While his body was being modified, his armor didn’t escape my modifying touch either.

‘To give the feeling that he’s been corrupted…’

[First, let’s dye it black, and also… Ah! Let’s replace some parts with living components?]

‘That’s it!’

Actively incorporating Seah’s suggestions, I thoroughly defiled the self-proclaimed emperor’s custom Giant Armor.

The gleaming gold exterior was dyed a dull black, and the red psychic crystals embedded throughout for visibility were replaced with actual living eyeballs to create an eerie feeling.

Between the jet packs on his back, a pair of tattered bat-like wings protruded to assist with maneuvering during flight, and an armored tail extending from between his legs could be used for various purposes.

With spikes protruding from all over the armor to give an aggressive and violent impression, and finishing with a living Western dragon’s head as the helmet.

Thus, the self-proclaimed emperor of the Central Imperial Empire died, and now the world witnessed the emergence of ‘BLACK DRAGON’ Kuishou Emperor, following in the footsteps of ‘THE BIRD SLAYER’ Mao Zedong as the man who killed the most Chinese people!

[Senior, aren’t you embarrassed?]

‘…Keep that up, and I’ll give you a new identity, brainwash you to add ♡ or ☆ at the end of your sentences, and debut you as a VTuber.’

[I’m sowwy…]

The self-proclaimed emperor’s armor looks something like this.